Strong Burning smell from PC

[fdxd]

Last night my pc decided to burn something. Heard light cracking or clicking noises before the smell became prominent.

The smell quickly overpowered the room and I panicked. I quickly ramped up the fans to full in asus ai fan utility in windows. Clocked down to stock from a 4.3 ghz overclock on a 3770k. Temps were fine in different program's. Low 30's. Wasn't doing anything intensive. Just normal browsing and multitasking.

At first I thought the cracking or clicking was a fan but no sign of wires in the way. Doesn't explain the burnt smell. It still smells somewhat despite 12 hprs having passed by. The inside of the pc has the smell but can't pinpoint anything.

PSU is 5 years old.
Gfx card 1 month not stressed on the day.
Mobo 1 week and half. Same for cpu

 

[spleenharvester]

Take a good hard look at the board for burn/scorch marks.

Mine did the same a while back tbh - still works fine.

 

[olivier renault]

Most likely the PSU.

I expect it to die soon, or when you stress it. You can try OCCT if you're brave, or mad, but I wouldn't switch it back on before checking out the PSU and if unsure, replacing it.

 

[OptimaLnrg]

what psu is it?

I've had this before with a bitfenix LED strip. I'd only plugged in 2 of the 3 pins and it nearly caught fire. Lol.

 

[fdxd]

Well had a good look inside. Motherboard seems clean. Do I unscrew it and check behind? Everything looks ok. Psu is black and it's hard to see inside. Smells are pretty much gone since I aired the room for the day. Just a faint smell inside case.

When it happened it was a very very strong smell. Anyone would panic. especially with light cracking sounds.

Corsair HX620 - 5 years old
Asus P8z77-I V Deluxe
Gigabyte 670 gtx
Intel 3770k

 

[fdxd]

Worth pointing outwrist the pc crashed when the smell became strong. And booted windows fine. I shutdown straight after just to be safe. Been off since.

 

[olivier renault]

Well, there's been a few reports of HX620's blowing up spectacularly recently. YOu really need to check its fitness.

Also, no fried bugs in the case?

 

[fdxd]

Well, there's been a few reports of HX620's blowing up spectacularly recently. YOu really need to check its fitness.

Also, no fried bugs in the case?

No signs of bugs. Filters on intake fans. Seems unlikely they could produce tgat much smell Will contact corsair.

 

[Class--]

Have u pulled out all power cables and looked for burning in the sockets?
Also when u said u "panicked" I thought u meant u pulled the plug from the wall and got an extinguisher out NOT letting it run with even more electricity going through it with fans blaring lol hope you find the source but I'd definitely be stripping my pc out of the case and going over it with a fine tooth comb but that's me

Class--

 

[fdxd]

Yes the pc has been taken apart. Its hard to see inside the PSU but it looks ok to me funnily enough(using iphone torch ).

At first when i got the burning smell I assumed my house was on fire lol. Not turning the pc on for a while. Will have to buy a new PSU to keep me going. Its 5 years anyhow.